Mission Statement

“Our efforts at education will be inadequate and ineffectual unless we strive to promote a new way of thinking about human beings, life, society and our relationship with nature.”

--- Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ (paragraph 215)

The College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Portland follows in the long tradition of the liberal arts. We value integrative education, scholarship, and creative work that transform our world, our communities, and ourselves.

An intrinsic component of a Catholic university, the College fosters personal development of students, faculty, and staff by exploring how knowledge helps shape our world for the better through the integration of faith and reason.

In response to fundamental issues of the twenty-first century, the College of Arts and Sciences promotes interdisciplinary engagement amidst the breadth of disciplines that comprise the humanities and the natural and social sciences. We affirm that the world is our classroom, and that the liberal arts provide tools for understanding the complexities of human culture and resources and opportunities for encouraging wonder about the universe.

CAS faculty members engage integrative learning through active teaching, faculty-mentored research, ethical and intellectual formation, and the creative and performing arts. We empower students to become responsible decision-makers and ethical citizens able to discern, appreciate, and protect the common good. Foundational experiences here prepare graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences to lead productive lives of inquiry, service, and introspection as agents of compassion and change.